Diving Into The Dream
by Lizzey500
Summary: The beginning is set shortly after the Fischer case. The team has to find a new forger and are continually faced with more intricate and difficult missions than the Fischer case. Can they handle it? M for sex.
1. Chapter 1

Diving Into The Dream

Chapter One; Finding Another Forger

"Alright, we're going to need another forger." Cobb announced, idly fingering his totem in his pocket. He and his team were sitting around a long table in a dream constructed by Arthur.

"What, am I not good enough for you now?" Eames joked with a playful smirk.

"About time you realize that." Arthur said, looking coldly over at the forger.

"We've got a new mission." Cobb went on, ignoring the side comments. "And I think we could benefit from another forger. It's quite a complicated mission."

"More complicated than the Fischer case?" Ariadne inquired, raising an eyebrow. "I highly doubt that's even possible."

"It's more complicated than the Fischer case." Cobb repeated with a nod.

"It's a nice thought, but where do you think we're going to find another forger?" Arthur challenged.

"It's not going to be easy." Cobb allowed, drumming his fingertips on the tables. "We'll have to use our resources and hope we come up with someone. Eames, do you know anyone?"

"Not that I can think of right now." Eames denied with a slight frown.

"So how do we find one?" Ariadne challenged, getting right to the point. Arthur smirked at her bluntness and got to thinking as well.

"Maybe we can start finding other dreamers. You know, invade the dream and try to find a forger that way." Arthur suggested, looking momentarily over at Cobb. Mostly Mal stayed out of their business dreams, but she still showed up every once and a while. "Strictly business."

"We can't just go invading people's dreams." Ariadne argued.

"Do you got any better ideas, love?" Eames shot back, waiting a few moments for her to respond. When she didn't, he chuckled. "Exactly. This is our best option."

"We can't start from scratch, though. We've got to find some leads. Maybe we can look up any odd blips from when they used the machine to train the military." Cobb said, standing up and checking his watch. "How much more time do we have?"

"About ten seconds." Arthur realized as music began echoing through the condo they had been speaking in to signal the kick.

"Alright, as soon as we get back start finding some leads." Cobb instructed.

"I have class." Ariadne reminded.

"Any chance you get, then. We have a deadline and we haven't even started." Cobb said grumpily as the kick happened.

"I'm not finding anything." Arthur said, flipping through the pile of papers he'd printed out about the military's experience when they were using the dream sharing machine.

"Eames, anything?" Cobb asked, rubbing his temple. This was not his ideal way of starting this mission.

"I—I think I might actually have something." Eames realized in excitement. Arthur and Cobb rushed over and Eames scrolled further down the web page he was on and grinned. "I think we've got ourselves another forger, men."

"Perfect. She's only a few hours away, too." Cobb realized, beaming. "I've got to get home to James and Phillipa. Do you two want to go and find this girl, see if she's interested?"

"Sure, we'll get right on it." Arthur agreed, shoving away his reluctance to work with Eames for the sake of the mission.

"Yeah, you go on." Eames encouraged, grabbing out his phone to call the girl. "If we're lucky we'll have her here by tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Diving Into The Dream

Chapter Two; Forger Training

"We'll be there later tonight then." Arthur said, hanging up the phone and exchanging a look with Eames. He had been on the phone with the possible future forger for at least a half hour trying to convince her to give them a chance. "She's agreed."

"Lucky you, I got the details on where she lives while you two were going at it." Eames commented, chuckling and shrugging into his suit coat. "Are we off then?"

"Yeah." Arthur agreed, tossing his loaded die he'd been idly playing with while he was on the phone into his pocket.

"What are you going to need that for?" Eames challenged on their way out of the door of the abandoned warehouse.

"You never know when we'll be swept into a dream." Arthur reasoned, nudging Eames in the side and chuckling. Both of them knew how Cobb tended to make last minute decisions more often than anyone else on the team. They both got into Eames' car and prepared for the five hour drive to the prospect's house.

()

"What, you want me to prove it to you?" The girl clipped, narrowing her eyes at Eames. He wasn't beating around the bush in the least.

"Well yeah, love." Eames said with a smirk. "What, you want to get to know each other? How about a name, that might help. I'm Eames, and this is Arthur."

"Alani." She said, moving a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "In case you don't already know, the military wasn't too keen on my constant appearance changes. I'm not one to follow directions."

"That will have to change if you want to join the team." Arthur pointed out, setting up the dream machine on Alani's coffee table.

"I never said yes." Alani pointed out, evenly meeting Arthur's gaze. Eames and Arthur could both tell this girl was a stubborn one; and that could either be an advantage or a disadvantage to them.

"Look, can we just get to business?" Eames interrupted, hooking himself up to the machine while Arthur followed suit to set it up for the two of them. When he went to hook Alani up, she hesitated. "Get a move on, darling."

"It's just been a while." Alani hedged, clearly holding something else back. She huffed at the slightly curious looks on the two men's faces and hooked herself up to the machine.

"Five minutes?" Arthur suggested, raising an eyebrow at Eames.

"Should be enough." Eames agreed with a shrug. "I'll be the dreamer."

()

Alani found herself in the middle of a parking lot besides an expensive looking corvette. Eames opened the passenger side door and got out, adjusting his tie and looking Alani over a moment. She scowled at him and he just laughed.

"A parking lot? What good will forging do here?" Alani challenged, unable to hide her curiosity. She hadn't been able to forge in a while and the longing to shot chills up her spine.

"We're not forging _here_." Eames denied, gesturing towards a club behind them. "We'll be forging in there. Now, I assume you already know all about projections?"

"Yes, if you change too much they'll go after you. You know, since you're the dreamer in this case." Alani stated, clearly well-versed on the subject. Eames smiled and approval and the two of them strode towards the club. When they were around ten feet away, Eames stopped and looked at her. "Alright, forge into a woman. We're sisters."

Before Alani could agree or disagree, Eames turned into a chesty brunette in a tight fitted leather mini skirt and purple halter. Alani obliged and forged into a similar looking blonde in a red cocktail dress.

"Now what?" She challenged, eager for a new mission. She'd forgot how much thrill she got from sharing dreams.

"Take on the role of a ditzy blonde. Time to see if your actions can meet up with your appearances." Eames instructed, smoothing down the leather mini. "I'll get us in; be the sexy bookworm sister."

"You get really into this, don't you?" Alani teased, knowing just how much she loved to get into character as well. They approached the guard and Eames sweet-talked his way in as promised, even frisking the bouncer a bit. Alani focused on the mission and headed towards the bar to stare into space and twirl her hair around her finger. In seconds, a projection strutted over to her and asked to buy her a drink.

"Little ol' me?" Alani drawled, deciding to be a southern belle. Eames was in earshot, and took on the added detail as he observed her. "Why, I don't drink."

"You don't?" The projection asked, curiously taking a seat next to her. "Then what's a pretty girl like you doing sitting at the bar?"

"Can't a girl eat?" Alani reasoned, giggling and twirling her hair around her finger more. "My, look at those muscles!"

The ditzy banter continued quite some time until she finally let the projection get her a drink. She continued the harmless flirting a few more minutes until Eames approached and said they had to leave. He pulled her into the women's bathroom and headed for the largest stall.

"That was impressive, I'll give you that." Eames commented, forging back into himself and grinning. "You're definitely a forger. But, there's one more character I want you to take on just to be sure you can handle anything we throw at you."

"Like what? I'm game." Alani said enthusiastically. There was no hiding her love for this.

"A man, of course." Eames replied simply.

"We're in the wrong restroom for that. It will look a bit weird if two men walk out of here." Alani pointed out.

"Ah, sharp mind. I like that." Eames praised, forging into a suggestive looking redhead. "Alright then, I think you know what I'm getting at here."

"Just business." Alani agreed, feeling butterflies form in her stomach anyway. She forged into a well-dressed man with a slightly sleazy demeanor and took a steadying breath before clutching Eames' new self by the waist and pressing her lips to his. They heatedly kissed and messed up each other's hair and clothing to make it look convincing before opening the stall and walking out; Alani's arm draped casually around the redhead. Eames kissed her neck before strutting off and she went to corner a projection to show off the fact that she was just as capable of portraying a man as she was of portraying a woman.

She spotted a long black haired woman leaning against the wall in the corner eyeing her. She pursed her lips and slid her hand suggestively down her stomach, urging Alani to come over. She raised an eyebrow and half-smiled before casually strutting over to the woman.

"Buy me a drink?" The woman said forwardly, pulling Alani to her by her tie just as music began echoing throughout the club. Eames quickly crossed the room to Alani just as the kick came and they were sent back to Alani's living room.

()

"So, how'd it go?" Arthur asked eagerly.

"If she'll accept, I think we've got ourselves a new forger to train." Eames replied with a grin.


	3. Chapter 3

Diving Into The Dream

Chapter Three; Working Together As A Team

"Everyone, this is Alani." Arthur introduced. Alani nodded timidly at the team and they all gave their various welcomes. Alani took an open seat next to Eames and Cobb surveyed her carefully.

"Have we looked into her abilities?" Cobb asked, looking to Eames and Arthur.

"She seems to definitely know her way around forging. We've just got to get her used to working with a team." Eames informed, slightly anxious for Cobb's approval.

"I'm Cobb." Cobb said with a friendly smile towards Alani. "I'm the extractor. Arthur is the point man, Eames is our first forger, and Ariadne here is our architect."

"So what do you need a second forger for?" Alani urged curiously. All of this was completely new to her, and it made her feel slightly uncomfortable not knowing what would be expected of her or how she'd need to use her abilities.

"After the success of the Fi—the last case we've did, there's been much interest in our abilities. Our next mission is more complex and it would be greatly beneficial to have two forgers this go round." Cobb explained, his eyes friendly.

"What is the mission anyway?" Eames pressed.

"I'll be more than happy to tell you after we've all learned to work as a team." Cobb hedged, going over to the dream machine where Phillipa was waiting patiently in a bright blue sundress. Alani looked curiously at the girl and Cobb smiled fondly. "This is my daughter, Phillipa."

"She's running the machine?" Arthur asked with a doubtful expression as the rest of the team appeared to have the same doubts, even Alani. After all, Phillipa was only a girl.

"Daddy showed me how." Phillipa said, her eyes wide and innocent. "We practiced tons of times."

"Alright." Eames agreed reluctantly. They all arranged their chairs in a circle and hooked up to the machine, eager to begin team training.

"Ariadne, dream us up a team-building scenario." Cobb instructed while Phillipa skillfully adjusted the controls. "One where we have to work together to live."

"Got it." Ariadne agreed, thinking up one quickly. She was used to on-the-spot demands by Cobb from the trial runs they'd all been running since the Fischer case.

()

The team all launched into the dream, finding themselves in a multi-story burning building. Alani and Arthur were stuck together on the third floor, Ariadne and Eames on the second, and Cobb on the third. Judging by the state of the building, none of them had much time.

"Alright, check for windows." Arthur said, getting straight to business. Alani quickly found one and peered over the window sill. "Is it a clean jump?"

"Not if you want to live. It looks like we're on the top floor." Alani commented with a huff. She surveyed the room in slight disappointment. "Any other ideas so we don't burn alive?"

"If we hurry we might be able to get to the stairs." Arthur offered, taking her arm and heading for the stairs. They started going down the staircase when Alani's foot feel through a step.

"Shit! Arthur!" Alani yelled, grabbing onto the Point Man's arm. He swept her up into his arms and continued carefully down.

"Careful! The fire's burned down the last steps!" Cobb yelled, standing at the bottom of the staircase. "I don't think you can make the jump with Alani. Throw her to me!"

"Throw me?" Alani gaped, panic deep in her expression.

"Trust is key here, Alani." Cobb said, looking levelly at her. "You can trust me."

"Are you ready?" Arthur asked, preparing to throw her. "We don't have much time before this stair burns, too."

"Alright, throw me." Alani agreed, squeezing her eyes shut as Arthur tossed her into the air and there was a moment of blood-chilling fright as she was suspended in air before Cobb caught her.

"Arthur, can you make the jump?" Cobb inquired, gently placing Alani beside him. Arthur easily made the jump and they heard Eames and Ariadne upstairs still trying to find a way down to the main level.

"Just muster up some courage and jump out of the window, Darling! The grass is nice and plush, I'm sure!" Eames pressed. Arthur laughed at his simple-mindedness.

"How about the stairs?" Ariadne urged just as the stairs collapsed. "Damn it, Eames!" Before they could duke it out any longer, music came to signal the kick and shortly after, there was one and they found themselves back in the warehouse.

()

"Well, that had its ups and downs." Cobb commented once they were back.

"Plush grass my ass." Ariadne muttered, crossing her arms across her chest.

"We would've had to leave that way in the end anyway." Eames pointed out.

"See? This is something we're going to need to work on." Cobb pointed out, directing his attention now to Arthur and Alani. "The other half of the team, did very well in this scenario."

"What's next?" Ariadne challenged, ready to just move on from the subject. Eames should've just trusted her, in her opinion.

"Make a new scenario." Cobb instructed, gesturing for Phillipa to set up the controls again. "Another team building one." Ariadne nodded curtly and within minutes, they were all back in the dreamscape.

()

This time they found themselves in a rapidly falling elevator. Arthur and Eames were in the elevator control room and Ariadne had designed so that if neither group was successful, those in the elevator would die just before the kick.

"Well, this is inventive." Alani commented, trying to remember her training to see if any of it could be applied to this situation.

"Everyone lay down!" Cobb said, remembering what he'd come to learn about falling elevators in his dream experience. If you lie down with the side of your face touching the body of the elevator, once it reaches terminal velocity and stands still you should be fairly safe.

"What good is this doing?" Ariadne asked curiously.

"Once it hits the bottom the impact will go through our entire body now, giving us the best chance of survival provided Arthur and Eames don't stop it first." Cobb explained.

"Is there even a way to stop it?" Alani murmured as the elevator began to pick up speed.

"I sure hope so." Cobb noted anxiously. He's experienced a variety of dream deaths, but dying from the impact of a falling elevator wasn't one of them.

()

"Alright, we've got to figure this out, mate. I'm afraid they don't have much time." Eames commented, looking at the complicated controls in the small room.

"Is there an emergency brake or something?"Arthur challenged, glancing over the controls as well. Some were labeled, and others were not. "Do we just start trying buttons?"

"What, so we can make it worse? We need to think logically, darling." Eames argued. He saw a button labeled emergency brake and him and exchanged an anxious look with Arthur. "Should we give her a go?"

"Worth a shot." Arthur allowed, sucking in his bottom lip as Eames pressed it in. They saw the elevator stub abruptly on the small screen and the others stand and look up excitedly. "Now, how do we get them out, though? Projection firemen?"

"I'm not sure Ariadne thought that far ahead." Eames realized, sitting back in his chair. "I wonder how much dream time is left…"

Almost as if on cue, they heard the music coming from all directions. Arthur and Eames grinned at each other and happily rode out the kick; proud of themselves for their successful teamwork. They all returned to the warehouse and this time Cobb seemed much more impressed with the team.

"Very nice teamwork this go around." Cobb praised with a warm smile in Alani's direction. "If you'll accept us, we'd love to have you as our second forger."

"I think I'll stick around for awhile." Alani commented, her eyes sparkling.


End file.
